


The Jon's One Man Band

by EcilaForest23



Category: M/M - Fandom, Michael Reed - Fandom, Steam Powered Giraffe, The Jon - Fandom
Genre: Hatchworth - Freeform, M/M, Michael Reed - Freeform, One Man Band, SPG, Steam Powered Giraffe (Band), The Jon - Freeform, The spine - Freeform, Walter - Freeform, rabbit - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 09:11:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12723717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EcilaForest23/pseuds/EcilaForest23
Summary: A Steam Powered Giraffe, the Steam Man Band fanfiction*so many people ship Michael Reed and The Jon, yet i haven't found many fanfics about them, so I've decided to change that*After two years of playing at San Diego Zoo, Sam Luke and Michael Reed, the human members of the band take a break abroad. But when they return to find The Jon has gone, what lengths will the One-Man-Band go to to find his one true love bot?Originally published on Wattpad





	1. Author's Note

This is a fanfic about The Jon and Michael Reed, however, it will be a clean one, i.e. no smut and only the occasional swear word, after all, it is an all ages act.

I will also try to update regularly, however that will depend on internet access, device availability and time. After all, I'm in school holidays and I may be busy but I'm still gonna try- even I'm curious to see what will happen and I'm the one writing it!

Sorry to drag on, but if at any point during the story there are parts you think are wrong or are incorrect about the band etc, or if you think I've left something out, please leave a comment and I'll try my best to fix it or if it's been too long since I updated, please let me know!

Thanks

Btw, when it comes to POVs  
MPR / Michael Phillip Reed  
TJ / The Jon  
TS / The Spine


	2. Baby Giraffes, Tickle Fights and Jars of Fluff

(MPR's POV)

I will never forget the atmosphere surrounding us in San Diego Zoo as we played 'Brass Goggles' for the last time there, The Spine with his coat, Rabbit with his megaphone, Sam having the time of his life with the drums and The Jon being, well, The Jon. Their harmonies rang out through the zoo;

-'Colonel Walter was shocked when he learned from the Nile,  
Copper African elephants turning hostile  
So he built these wonderful automaton blokes  
And a very big steam powered giraffe that smokes...  
-'Brass Goggles! ... Brass Goggles! Brass Go-o-oggles... Brass Goggles! Brass Goggles!  
-'I want all today, don't want to hear you say, I love you, I love you, I love, love, love you!

I could have sworn I saw Jon sneak a look at me in the last part of his round, his blue photoreceptors gleaming in a way I'd never seen them before, but before I had time to think about it properly, the song ended. Our time at the zoo was now over, in terms of performing, anyway.

************

"SAAAM? YOU READY? SAAAAAAM!?"  
Next thing I hear is a clutter of bags going down the stairs of the manor, at quite a speed and dragging Sam along with them, judging by all the cursing involved, so I rush to his aid closely followed by David and Bunny, while Rabbit being Rabbit stands there for a moment, before registering the situation. Eventually between three robots and four humans we manage to untangle the drummer from his mass of bags and suitcases.  
"We're only going for two weeks, y'know..." Steve commented, and as a result had a tub of mustache conditioner thrown at him.

About an hour later we were packed and ready to leave, after an arguement over who was driving, until Steve settled it with a rock paper scissors match, and ended up in the driver's seat.  
Then came the goodbyes, and although we were only going on a human-only holiday, we would still miss the robots, Bunny and David (Peter was coming with us so someone had to care for the robots).

An hour later we were on the road, and I still had Jon's words ringing in my ears  
"I love you, Michael Phillip Reed, with all my Pepsi-filled blue matter heart" he had whispered in my ear, only loud enough for me to hear, as I hugged the small golden robot. In all the time we had been together, in secret, he had not once said those three words, "I love you", despite us both knowing that was how he felt, how we both felt about eachother. It was at that point The Spine gave me a look I'd never seen before, almost of warning as I whispered back to Jon that I loved him too. Had Spine heard? No, not even his hearing was that good... Had Jon failed to block his thoughts to his older brother over the wifi? Or maybe he had just worked it out over time, recollecting everything and piecing it all together in the Hall Of Wires?

But by then it was time to go and one look from Jon had told him to keep his mouth shut. As small as the art deco bot was, he was definately champion when it came to tickle fights, something The Spine and his pride knew all about, having lost probably over 500 tickle fights against Jon, and he knew that was a threat enough to keep Spine quiet at least until we came back.

I was just dozing off in the van when I heard something in the back fall as we went over a ditch in the road followed by an almost robotic groan, which I guessed was the old chassis creaking. It was one of The Jon's jars of fluff coming loose. He had for some unbeknown reason given it to us 'to keep us safe of the journey' - Jon being Jon collects fluff, and has a jar for every colour of the rainbow, and a jar for all the colours in which he couldn't decide where to put otherwise. He collects it from bits hanging off clothing, carpets and rugs, any bits that fall off his hat feathers and dyed bits of wool.  
But then I heard the groan again, and so did Peter this time. So we pulled over and opened the back doors to try and figure out if it was the luggage or the chassis. As we started to pull out some of the bags, Steve noticed a rough, wooden box, oddly GG-shaped. Then we heard another noise, this time more audible and definitely GG sounding.

***  
"Peter?"  
"GG? What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Where is here?"  
"GG, I thought I told you to stay at home and take care of my sound kits, and keep The Jon away from them, you know what he's like when he starts to play around with sound effects. Last time I spent three hours trying to turn of the ice cream monster's growl." Steve scolded.  
"But I wanted to come with you guys! The other robots always ignore me! Can I just come with you? It's only two weeks!"  
"Yeah but since when can baby giraffes ski?" Sam mused, quickly followed by me elbowing him in the ribs. Great. A baby robotic giraffe is enough trouble as it is, but an overly excited and agitated baby giraffe? That's when all hell breaks loose.  
"Skiing? You guys are going skiing? Without ME?! How could you? You know I always wanted to go to the Alps. I promise I'll behave... Please let me come? Pleeeeeaaaaase?" She did the cute baby eyelashes blinking thing.  
Peter sighed. "Fine" he eventually gave in.

(TJ's POV)

I couldn't help but look at Michael while singing 'I love you', and luckily I don't think anyone noticed apart from him. Though I think Spine may be getting suspicious about something, though I doubt he can work it out.

That night was the best. Michael came to see me in my room, half asleep with his pyjama top on backwards, and started muttering something about love and fluff on his pyjamas he wanted me to pick off. Then he simply crashed out on my bed. I can't say I blame him, I feel like my systems need to recharge too. But for a while I stay awake simply taking in every perfect feature, despite his wardrobe malfunction and the fact that he'd started drooling in his sleep. I'm just so happy that Peter W installed emotion chips into us. I still can't work out how we all got by with no emotion. And the best one I've found so far? Love. For my special human. I mean, I love all the humans, but this is a different kind. I love everyone else like I love butterflies, and buiscuits and ice cream. But this human? I Love him. And he loves me back. We don't care if people think it's wrong for him to be going out with a robot, I'm not just a machine, I'm a person holding onto a dream, that, one day, there will be no barriers in this make believe world of ours, that there will be no bounds in society... At which point I pass out as my systems finally power down, laying next to Michael, my one arm draped over his body, as his legs shift and his feet interlock with mine.

***

Saying goodbye was the worst. I gave him one of my rainbow jars, my lucky jar, for a safe journey. And when he hugs me, I tell him what I should have already said. I tell him I love him, with all my Pepsi-filled Blue Matter heart. But as he whispers back, I sense Spine looming behind me, giving Michael a warning look, judging by the way he tenses under my embrace. I turn to find exactly that. So I warn him that if he says anything about what he may or may not be thinking before Michael gets back and we have a hance to discuss it properly, I will fight to the power down in a tickle fight, which I will win. He seems to get the message. As they leave I realise there's something different. A whining, robotic, nagging voice, or rather the lack of it. Then it clicks. GG. Rabbit and Spine seem to notice the same time as me, probably because they've hacked back into my thought wifi.  
I'm sure GG will be fine with Sam, Mike, Peter amd Steve, and she can tell me all about it when she gets back.


	3. Cries, Glitter, and a Hell of a Lot of Drumsticks

(TJ's POV)  
I knew something was wrong the second Bunny, and David both came into the library with sollemn expressions on their faces. At first I thought I'd just had too much ice cream and pepsi within two hours of eachother, and i was about to be cleaned out - they hate doing it because I can never keep still; it TICKLES! -but something tells me it's something else. Possibly the fact that they sit me down. Then David starts to talk. About ten minutes into their lecture, Bunny gets interrupted by clanging and grinding of metal and hydrolics desperately trying to keep The Spine and Rabbit upright, but to no avail as they come crashing through the closed doors of the library. They'd obviously worked out what the twins were going to say next, due to their evesdropping. After seeing my apperent blank expression they sent what they thought over the wifi to me.  
"WHAT?!" I thought aloud. Possibly too loudly. I had to leave? The last ten minutes went swimming through my mind, finally starting to add up...  
"Lack of concentration" ... "could contribute more to songs" ... "fans will always love you and keep you in their hearts no matter what" ... "you'll never be completely forgotten about" ... "maybe stay with Upgrade for a while?" ... "water's a lot cheaper" ...  
Oh my fluffy biscuits, they're getting rid of me. I suppose i've brought it on myself, and judging by the Bennetts' expressions, they've thought long and hard about it, and have discussed it with Peter and several Walter Workers.

At that point Rabbit's steam pressure gage decides to malfunction, whether intentional or not I'm not quite sure but it means Mr David, Miss Bunny and The Spine drag the copper clockwork 'bot to the workshop for yet more repairs, with many protests on Rabbit's part. So there I am, left to sit in the library, staring and the hundreds of books that line the walls, trying to figure out what happened.

I must have been there a while because by the time Spine came back in, it was dark outside. He came to sit next to me, and wordlessly he put his arm around my shoulders, gently pulling me closer. If there's one thing my big brother's good at, its hugs, though he'll never admit it. It's at that point i feel a cool drop slowly descending my increasingly warm cheekplate. What? What's this... this... leaking affecting my eye? I wipe it away, to find it's black and gooey. Oil? Dripping... does that mean it's a cry? I'm crying? Well I suppose if the emotion chips allow love and hate, why not crying? Spine seems to notice if too. He wipes away a second one and holds me closer to him, so my head rests on his chest, and puts one hand on my head, his fingers dissapearing in my curls, hos other holding my frame close to his, securing me, protecting me, just like he used to when the thunder storms would scare me, or I'd come bolting into his room, scared witless after a nightmare. It seemed so comforting... until i remembered why wenwers curled up next to eachother. In a week's time, I will be... god knows where. Another drop of oil falls. Then another. And another. And another...

(TS's POV)

After about half an hour of 'crying', Jon's cries finally slow to gentle sobs, to a soft whimper, as he falls asleep, cradled in my arms, dirty black oils streaks staining his golden brass face and there's a pool of oil on the couch, that Peter will want to murder us over. Well guess what, Peter A. Walter. I will want to murder you over what you've done to my baby brother. I look down at the little brass 'bot curled up in my lap, somehow managing to look somewhat peaceful but with pain etched into his face plates.  
I carefully carry him to his room, and lay him on his bed and tuck him in. Oh how I will miss me and Rabbit tucking him in every night. I close the door as quietly as possible as I leave, and turn around to find David stood behind me, his height matching my own.  
"What?" I spit bitterly at him.  
"I wanted to know if he was alright." He said, unfased by by quiet anger. I walk down the corridor and down two flights of stairs, and he follows so that we are away from anyone who's sleeping, in case voices were raised.  
"No. He's not alright. I've spent the past hour trying to get him to sleep after an outburst of tears. He was crying for god's sake! CRYING!"  
"Spine, cool down..."  
"Cool down? COOL DOWN?! Between you, Bunny and Peter, you managed to make The Jon, the happiest automaton known to exist, so upset he cried. The one thing we all vowed we would never, EVER do since we had the emotion chips" I seethed. I put a small black and green card with gold blobs harshly in his hand. "That's how bad it got." I watched as he realised it was Jon's.  
"Spine, I can explain. You know perfectly well that what was done had to be done..."  
"Tearing him away from his friends had to be done? Sending him away from his family had to be done? From his best memories? From everything as he knows it? From the one person he loves?" I practically shout. Wait, what? WHAT did i just say? Crap. Crappety crap, iced with craps, with extra crap sprinkles on top. I just gotta hope he didn't catch that last bit...  
"What??"  
I stare at him.  
"Spine? What did you just say? The Jon's in love?"  
Umm...  
"What? No, I meant have you seen him with GG? I've never seen friends quite like them. I meant love as in the same way I love Steve, Sam and Michael. As friends, as family." Did that convince him? Have I somehow managed to save my silver, metal hyde?  
"Look, Spine, I'm sorry, okay? We'll talk more in the morning, I'm about to fall asleep right here. Goodnight."  
And with that, he leaves.  
Well that was weird.

As i lay on my bed, I can't stop thinking about The Jon and what I think might be going on. Nobody else seems to have noticed, but then, nobody keeps quite as close an eye as I do on him.  
He seems to be slightly different around him. Happier, almost. And I could have sworn I saw Jon look at Mike during his round in Brass Goggles in our last show atthe zoo, but didn't think anything of it at the time. And actually, come to think of it, Mike seemed to respond, as subtle as it was, but his body temperature increased by 0.78 degrees, despite the sun disapearing behind the clouds. When they left to go to the alps, a was pretty sure then, and I must have subconsiously given Michael a warning look, judging bit the 'I'm going to beat your ass at a tickle fight of you don't keep you mouth shut' expression I had from Jon a few seconds later.

Prehaps I'll tackle Jon about it in the morning, and I power down with it resting in my mind

***

I wake up to the sound of various objects being thrown around with muffled cussing, and the occasional "No!" quickly followed by some form of clothing hitting a door, or, you know, my face, as I walk into Jon's room to investigate the cufuffle, still only wearing my pyjama bottoms.

I look around to find a room that looks like the russian mafia have just done a drugs raid in my little brother's bedroom. There are clothes spewn all over the floor and bed, there's varoius pots and jars knocked over, drawers have been emptied directly into a suitcase on the bed, amd there is glitter EVERYWHERE. There's glitter on the floor, there's glitter on his bed, there's glitter on his desk, there's glitter lining the windows, there's a layer of glitter plastered on him, there's even glitter on the ceiling, and how the hell it got up there is anyone's guess. I swear it's even migrating toward me, threatening to engulf me. As I finish my visual sweep of what's visible of the room, underneath the layers of glitter, fluff and clothing, I notice something strange lurking on The Jon's desk. I lean forward from my position in the doorway to pick them up. It takes a moment for my systems to register them properly. Plane tickets? As I sift through them, I notice that they're all for different countries. At that moment, The Jon, who had been continuing his 'packing' the whole time, discarded yet another pair of bright red braces (or suspenders, depending on where you come from) over his shoulder, and turned aroud so quick I thought his spinal chassis would break, when, instead of hitting a wooden door as he was expecting, they clanged off my bare metal chest, the sound resonating throigh my boiler for a while. Apparently he's only just noticed me, judging by the very confused expression on his face. Saying that, my own face probably mirrored his as I held up the tickets questionably.

The next three words he said explained it all to me.

"David and Bunny..." he started, but never got to finish, as I was already on my way to the kitchen where I knew I would find at least one of the Bennett twins, and sure enough Bunny was there, making herself some breakfast.  
David must have told her about my outbusrst last night, because her expression turned when she spotted The Jon's plane tickets still in my hand.  
"The Spine, I can explain..." she started to stummer, but quickly shut up when she found herself with something cool, silver and arm shaped wrapped around her, as I hugged her to simply say thank you.

They were sending The Jon all over the world, the one thing he had always wanted since catching a glimpse of what was out there, albeit from the middle of a war. But that's one of the best bits about The Jon; he can always see beauty where no one else can. I mean, who else sees one rather sad-looking daisy in the middle of a mine field and is able to see the whole world that once surrounded that daisy, in all it's prosperity, and more importantly, what other beauty will once again surround it? I sure as hell can't. And that's one reason why he wants to, and is, going around the globe to find it.

That afternoon we went to the airport, and by now The Jon was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement, but every now and again, he would see something, or hear a snippet of a conversation, and stop momentarily, an expression of hurt flashing across his face, soon to dissipate and he would carry on whatever he was doing, mostly rolling around in the back of the van, hitting some body part or another, mostly his head, judging by the amount of clangs and ouches every time we went around a corner or braked suddenly. It seems I was the only one to notice these slight momentary changes in The Jon, most likely because they would take place over 1/5 of a second, far too fast for even Rabbit to pick up let alone David or Bunny. It was at this point I was glad he had postponed his optical upgrade for until after Jon had gone - for a while, our optics don't function properly after and optical upgrade, during a recalibration period, rendering us temporarily blind... ish... and they last about an hour - or in Rabbit's case, several - but often Jon forgets about this, and tries to play catch with Rabbit. As you can probably imagine, things get broken, however, it's funny how the feather monster can never catch...

Anyways, after a while, I seemed to notice a pattern in my little brother's odd behaviour. It seemed to happen every time a keyboard case fell on top of him, or he nearly smashes into a certain white guitar frlm where we hadnt emptied the van from the last show, but mostly when he heard a part of a coversation that concerned Michael. Oh. My theory seems to be becoming more and more accurate. After about the twentieth pause i climbed into the back and grabbed ahold of him, juat as we turned a corner and Michael's guitar leads came flying off a shelf and landed squarely in a gaping Jon's mouth. I pulled them out and tied the back onto the shelf and held onto him. He looked at me in utter confusion. Probably at why I was randomly hugging him.  
"Jon..." i started to question before being cut of by Bunny's voice  
"Everything ok back there?" I assured her it was, that I was just strapping thigs back in place. So I can't ask him outright. I leaned over ti look at Rabbit. He had powered down, probably to the van sending his hydrolic oil levels haywire. In other words, travel sickness. No offence Rabbit, but right now that was good. I wouldn't have to fight him off the Thought Wifi with a rock paper scissors match.  
"Jon?" I asked through the wifi  
"Yeah Th'Spine?"  
"Uhh..." how do I put this? "Look, I've been noticing a few things about you lately, starting with the last show in the zoo..."  
"What about it?"  
"When we played Brass Goggles... I saw you look at Michael during the round." His face fell.  
"Well, I think I heard him play a note wrong, so I looked around to check it was all ok..." He seemed to be sending the answer before he had even recieved the question. I raised an eyebrow at him.  
"And it just so happened to be when you were singing 'I love you'? Jon, don't think I havent seen that you're a lot happier after dissapearing for hours on end coincidentally when Michael goes for a walk in the woods with enough food and Pepsi to feed two people. Besides which, his expression when you hugged him goodbye when we left for the Alps said it all. I can imagine what either of you said." He opened his mouth to protest, but shut it as he realised it was pointless, though I had a feeling he was going to deny it unlessmi was specific. "You love him, don't you? He loves you back doesn't he? You're together, aren't you?" There. I said it. Well, asked it.  
"Yes, yes, ish." He replied, out loud, to my suprise. I pulled him into a hug, despite being showered by various spare guitar strings, bass strings, picks, capos and a hell of a lot of drum sticks, as most in the past have somehow ended up with untraceable small giraffe teeth marks in.  
"Oh, Jon! I'm so happy for you!"  
"Wait, so, you're not mad?" Came a muffled voice, apparently oblivious to the fact that a bump in the road as we turned a corner has forced his face somewhere into my armpit. Nice. Lucky I don't sweat.  
"Euugh, Jon, why have y-y-y-you got yer face shoved in Sp-p-pine's armpit? He might have sweated." Apparently I do. Thanks Rabbit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nawww ^_^ Spine's a big softie really XD
> 
> Thank you to anyone who's reading this, though I doubt many people will XD  
>  Please leave a comment on what you think, be it good or bad, I just wanna know if there's anything i need to change, improve or add :)


	4. Payphones, a Family of Snails, and 1,376 Fedoras

(TS's POV) 

We arrived at the airport about an hour before The Jon needed to board, and after checking in, and feeding his luggage into the system to be boarded, we had about half an hour to spare, so decided to explore, and would meet back ten minutes before Jon had to board. Jon and I were gonna take Rabbit with us to count the posters, but he was too busy seducing the payphone, so we left him to it.

"Jon? Can we talk?"  
"Uh, sure, Spine, 'bout wha... oh." He knew what I was on about. "I guess"  
"Since when? How? Why tell no one... 'kay, scratch that last one, but were you going to tell anyone?  
"Woah, slow down! Since a few months, one night I was in the library, sat reading on the couch, when Michael came in and sat next to me, also reading. A few hours later I woke up to find myself leaning against his arm, my book still in my hand. For some reason, it felt strangely... warm and familiar, like it had ignited a flame inside of me. I looked up to see him looking back down at me, with something in his eyes I had never seen before. That was when he kissed the top of my head, and I hugged him and kissed him on the nose, playfully, yet driven by something unknown, like some mini men inside of me, like if an emotion could be something physical. I didn't even know what was happening, my actions weren't my own, yet they felt so right. Then, somehow, he kissed me on the lips, and, I kissed him back"  
Jon seemed to be on a world of his own, recalling the memory, all the while, his eyes glowing brightly, but not shining like they usually do. Either way, I doubt he was using them, because he very nearly walked strait into a pillar.  
"Then?"  
"We jut sat there, cuddled for a while, and when I asked him what just happened, all he replied with is 'I love you, Jon' and another kiss to the top of my head. I think it was the next day, again when we happened to be in the library alone, we decided that we should be... together, but that we shouldn't tell anyone, at least not yet, just in case it got out to the public, and god knows what people would say if they found out that a man - and the one man band, no less- was going out with a robot. It was actually kinda fun, making sure nobody found out."  
"But I did..."  
"Yeah but you're different. We were going to tell you once Michael came back from the Alps, but I guess I'm not gonna be there when he does." Pain flashed across his face. At that moment Rabbit decided to send us:  
"Uys, you nee mee sin f ive"  
"Uys you knee me sin five??" Jon pronounced, as utterly confused as I was.  
" UCKI G IRP RT IFI!!"  
"Rabbit, you're making no sense" I sent back after a few failed sends. After a many failed attempts at sending us a sensible message, he called us  
"Rabbit, what were the first two messages you tried to send us?"  
"'Guys you need to meet us in five' and 'FUCKING AIRPORT WIFI!!' It's almost time for the plane" at which point he hung up, or rather, the wifi did. So we made our way back to Bunny and David who were dragging a disgruntled Rabbit away from the payphone.  
"B-b-b-but, Pleesin Sertcoin!! My baby! I-I-I-I'll be b-b-back!" he cried as the four of us dragged his heavy ancient chassis across the departures section. I guess it didn't take a genius to work out what the phone had replied with when he asked her name.

It took ages for Bunny and David to get The Jon through the security gate. Eventually, after ten minutes of many humans cussing and argueing, and Rabbit persuading the gate to not to go off for The Jon to get through, we got him through the gate, the guards happy but the gate strangely not going off. Up to now, I've gone along with his appliance romamces, and left the conversations at Rabbit's quirky imagination, but this has got me wondering if he actually has got the sense for other machines and appliances, and whether I've underestimated him all this time... it's one to remember to study further, most likely with QWERTY in the Hall Of Wires, but it will have to wait because when I look up I find that Jon had rooted himself to the floor, with his strange ability to be able to root himself with his feet to practically any surface with an unknown immense strength, despite being the lightest and nimblest of us all. It's even worse when he starts blabber and sob, which he was, so I was called over after all three of them failed to shift him. So I walk over, but instead of manually hauling him after many strenuous attempts like I usually do, I simply hug him and comfort him, to stop the sobbing for one, and when I go to pick him up bridal style, he releases and allows me to pick him up and I start walking toward the door leading outside to the plane. "What's the matter Jon?"   
"I won't be there when..."  
"Sshhhh" I soothe, trying to comfort him and shut him up before anyone hears the rest of the sentance.  
"But I have to be there, tell him what's happened, and besides, what do we tell fans?!" He started clawing at me, trying to wiggle free, but I held him, trying to get him to listen for a moment.  
"Jon, listen to me? I'm going to contact Michael the second he touches back down to meet me in the library, as soon as he can when he gets to the manor, most likely while Bunny and David brief everyone else, I'll tell Michael, okay? I'll talk to him, on his own, since I'm the only one who knows the full extent of things. And we'll tell fans that you're taking a break from the band and fulfilling a dream by travelling the world, and maybe, just maybe, some of them might spot you. Okay? How does that sound?" He nodded, a bit more content knowing that the two main issues would be resolved. "Anything you want me to tell him?" He thought for a second, then nodded, sending his golden curls bouncing around his face in the most adorable way ever. He whispered his message in my ear, and I couldn't help but smile at his eleven chosen words. We were nearly at the plane, and to cheer Jon up before he boarded, and to keep him in a good mood, Bunny presented a handful of brochures of everywhere he was going, and everything he could do there. He took them excitedly and practically flew out of my arms to hug her tight, and one by one he hugged us goodbye, coming to me last.   
"Spiiiine?" He started to ask like a little kid who wanted a bar of chocolate. Without words I knew what he was going to ask. Before I could reply he was back in my arms, bridal style. He'd always loved me carrying him like this, because I did it when he was upset or scared, or had fallen asleep somewhere and I took him to bed. And now he wanted me and Rabbit to carry him to the plane. So we did. We took him on to the plane, buckled him in and said our last farewells, and Jon gave us each a jar of rainbow fluff, and his most prized jar; glitterrysparkleryfluff, to give to Michael.

As we were headed bacck to the main building of the airport, I noticed Rabbit had stopped and was facing away from the building. Dread overwhelmed me when I saw his face when he saw the plane. Uh oh. Big uh oh. Uber turbo uh ohs with jet engines.  
"Roxy?! There you are! Man, I was looking everywhere for ya! You told me you'd wait for me in the fridge!" He said, running toward the jet, arms flailing. Oh god. A toaster? That's fine. A blender? Fine. God knows how many mobiles and payohones? That's fine. Poor Walter Worker Holly's car? Pushing it, but an ok romance. But a jet plane? Like, NOT OKAY! What if the engines started while Rabbit was next to them? He'd be a grated Rabbit. Peter would kill me, crucify me, make my life a hell if anything happened to any of my siblings, robot or human. I start running after him, and I'm almost caught up with him when i hear from the plane an announcement:  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid there is a slight delay as we are having trouble starting the engines, however we will be on our way as soon as we can. Please remain seated and calm. Thank you."  
"RABBIT!! YOU ABSOLUTE IMBECILE, GET BACK HERE YOU DUMMENS!!!" I yell at him, while running towards him, only to find him stood under the nose of the plane, talking up to it. I stand next to him and my ears tune in to the conversation in the cockpit above  
"Hang on, there's a file that's appeared in the system, captain."  
"A what? Jack, this is a plane not a laptop, how can we have a file?"  
"But it's there, captain, look."  
".lo.ve.rabbit? You got your mobile on you?"  
"Sir..."  
"I don't care wether we're on duty or not, I need to find that file if it's stopping my plane from starting her engines."

"Rabbit, what have you done? Why do they have a file titled .lo.ve.rabbit? Why won't the engines start?"  
"The file was nothing to do with me. I can't help it if Roxy loves me. She's the one who made the file. And she said that a family of snails have taken up residence on one of the blades in her left engine, and if she starts them up, they'll die. C'mon, Th'Spine! We need to move them!" And sure enough, there were five snails, all huddled closely, apparently not keen on the idea of flying lessons. Once ee had moved them all to a pot plant just inside the airport building, Rabbit assured her it was safe to fly, and the second he was far enough away, all four engines started, and took Roxy, and The Jon to the sky.  
"Ah, mecto amore" he sighed.  
"What?"  
"Well Roxy's been all over the world, so obviously she's picked up some words along the way. Mecto amore means machine love in, uh, French? Or Spanish? Or maybe it was Italian. Or possibly German. Wait, was it Welsh? Possibly Latin." And on and on he went, naming every language he could think of, the whole ride home, doubling on most of them. We told him to shut up when he got to jackalopian, at which point he admitted he couldn't remember.

The next week was quiet, with Rabbit entertaining himself, having various affairs with the kitchen appliances, and started freaking out when he couldn't find the fridge in the library, only to discover he'd left it in the living room. I spent most of my time in the Hall Of Wires, having debates with BeeBop andQWERTY, reading in the garden about Jackalope languages, and sorting through my fedoras. All 1,376 of them, to be exact.

Then Peter, Steve, Sam, Michael and GG came back.  
Here we go...


	5. The Return of Michael. Twice.

(TS's POV)

When I saw the van pull up on the manor driveway, I felt something strange. Like the bottom of my boiler was about to fall out, and my main fluid curculitory system bagan pumping faster, and for some reason, I couldn't stop twitching and fidgeting. After a while, I realised it must be some sort of emotion. I accessed the data bank Peter installed with the emotion chip... nervous? Figures, I guess. I mean, I've got to tell him that the person he loves has left, and may or may not be coming back. And given that there's a million ways that conversation could go, I'm not exactly looking forward to it.

As Peter, Sam, Steve, Michael and GG walk through the double doors of Walter Manner, they're greeted by David, Bunny, a very excited Rabbit and QWERTY announcing their arrival with "The return of Peter. The return of Sam. The return of Steve. The return of Michael." I have no idea why he does that every time someone comes back. I guess it's his way if saying welcome back. I was instructed to stay mostly out of sight, so it wouldn't look strange that The Jon hadn't come to greet them either, or least until the Bennett twins had told of our situation, so I stayed in the library, and watched through the window. Why there was a window looking from the library to the main hallway of the manor, I have no idea, but I suppose Pappy had the same ideas as me, as it's hidden behind a shelf of very boring books, that nobody ever wants to read. The other side, the side seen from the hallway, is mirrored, so nobody, apart from me, actually knows what's there. I only found it because I was bored and had read every other book in the library, and that was the only section I hadn't yet tackled. I then see Rabbit dissappear, most likely to try and find Bunny's hair dryer in the garden, while Bunny leads everyone else to the briefing room, mainly used by Peter when he needs some of the Walter workers' help. I stand in the doorway of the library, just so that Michael can catch a glimpse of me, nods subtley in understanding, before I move out of view again until everyone goes. I'd explained to David before hand that I was going to tell Michael on his own, 'because they're exceptionally close' and left it at that.

I notice the anxiety written on his face as he walks in and sits down. I don't blame him.  
"So, uh, Spine, what exactly is going on? I noticed everyone else is being told something, but how come you're telling me on my own? Or are you telling me something different?"

"I'm telling you the same as everyone else. But I'm telling you privately because I know something they don't, and don't need to. It's about The Jon..."

"What have you done to him...?" He shoots off the sofa, worry taking over his voice.

"Michael, calm down, he's not hurt." He sits back down and gets enveloped by the extra cushions I put there. "A decision was made, with a lot of thought and consideration. It was based on a lot of things, and trust me, it wasn't an easy decision. But given that his contribution to the band is stretched too thinly, among other things, we... uh... We had to let him go." Seeing the pain being etched into Michael's face is core breaking. The next thing I register is Michael bolting out of the manor toward the woods. I run after him. He keeps running the full perimeter until he has reached back at the doors into the manor, just as I catch up with him, to be greeted by "The return of Michael"  
"Shut up QWERTY" I yell at him. I'll apologise later. Michael begins his outburst when we arrive back in the library and the door is slammed shut.  
"You kicked him out? You got rid of him? Just like a hunk of metal and wires?" he seethed, angry and upset tears streaming down his face. He goes to punch me in the face out of anger. However I manage to react quick enough and use one of the spare cushions I put there (for this reason) to shield my face, more for his protection than mine. He could quite easily break his hand if it connected full force with a bit of solid titanium alloy framework, nose or otherwise.  
"No, we didn't! We went over it with him, we sorted everything, Michael, he's gone to travel the world. That was the second thing on his list of things he wanted and loved the most."

"And the first?" He says with confusion, as he flops back down on the sofa in defeat. I sit next to him and face him. I practically whisper "You." His face turns from sorrow and anger to absolute disbelief and slight horror quicker than you could say 'Walter'.   
"Wha... you... uh... how... wha... ok how much do you know and how??"  
"I know most of it, if not all of it, partly because I've pieced bits together over the last few months, and partly because he filled in the gaps, and how it all started. And no, don't worry, no one else knows. And I don't intend to change that, unless you really want me to, which I doubt."

After a lot of pacing back and forth, and several changes in his expression and body language as different thoughts pass through his brain, he finally stops in front of me, turns to face me and manages to for a sentence.  
"I loved him, The Spine. I loved The Jon. I still do. And now he's gone... just to know he's there when I go to his room to talk and end up asleep there. Just to know that I could turn over into a pair of cold golden arms that I could lie in forever... and now they're not gonna be there..." he trails off and cries into my shoulder. I try to soothe him for a bit before speaking up.  
"There a few words he wanted me to tell you. Eleven, to be exact." He looked up at me in hope  
"He said 'I love you, with all my Pepsi-filled Blue Matter heart' And if it's any comfort in knowing, he's over the moon to be travelling the world, and he'll contact us from wherever he is every week, and once he's done that, he's gonna become mayor of biscuit town. That's also all were gonna tell the fans." He seems to take enough comfort from that, and goes to bed as it's nighttime by now. We agreed we'd talk more in the morning when he wasn't so tired and irritable and he'd have been able to sleep on it. We said our good nights and I headed to the Hall Of Wires. Time to apologise to QWERTY and face up to the wrath of BeeBop, who's no doubt been told an exaggerated version of me telling QWERTY to go away, and he was being less than helpful, to be fair.   
Well, here we go...


	6. Ex-Cushions, Cobwebs, and What the Hell is THAT?

(TJ's POV)

Who could have known that Africa was actually beautiful? Especially from this height. Not Quite as tall as the Delilah giraffe, but this one is still pretty tall. Heh, Delilah... named after Delilah Morreo... Pappy's one true love... that's why he build me, Rabbit and The Spine... I wonder how the are... and Michael... No! Michael! My dear Michael Philip Reed... and I never got to say goodbye... What's this? Again? Another oil tear? Apparently the giraffe stood next to the one I'm on notices, and nudges me gently, in a ticklish way. Slowly, my thoughts get dragged away from what I'm no longer around and to the fact that I'm riding a giraffe through Africa, and feel a mile high, despite only being about ten feet off the ground. Delilah was about a mile high... nope not gonna think about that. All I gotta focus on is how the hell I get from the middle of the African plains on the back of a giraffe to Biscuit Town to be crowned mayor in two days' time.  
Despite all this though, Michael still hangs in the back of my mind. I can't help but wonder how he reacted to The Spine telling him that he knew about... us. I'm sure Spine would have handled it just fine. Knowing my brother's diplomatic skills and Michaels usually calm temperament, it probably went smoothly.

(MPR's POV)

"What happened in here?" In front of me, on the floor of the library, is an ex cushion. There are feathers everywhere, and the remains are spewn all over the floor, and the catch on the ancient and unbreakable door of the library is all broken and splintered.  
"Spine?"  
"Um..." I think he's desperately hoping no one will walk in at this moment. It would look kinda incriminating with just the two of us stood in the middle of all the minor chaos. Now I understand why I vaguely remember him locking the library last night.  
"Well, uh, yesterday, you, uh, got kinda angry and..." he trails off. Wait...?  
"I did this?!" I ask, looking around me once more. I turn to face him. He looks at me with a steely strait face, for the first time since I've known him he's not showing his emotions. Probably out of not knowing how I'm gonna react, judging by the surrounding mess.  
"When I told you yesterday about what's happened, you turned. Understandable, but still unexpected coming from you. You ran out, all around the perimeter of the woods, came back in, slammed the door" he gestures towards the unwell door "and tried to punch me in the face." He looks down at the dead mass of feathers.  
"Okay, the door I sorta understand and vaguely remember, but that still doesn't explain the cushion."  
"You went to punch me in the face, as an angry instinctual reaction. I shielded it with the cushion." I open my mouth to tell him that surely he could take a whack around the jaw, it's nothing to him compared to the strength of his brothers'. But before I say anything he adds "For your sake rather than mine. With your strength and speed, enhanced by adrenalin and anger, if you hand had connected with my face, you would have broken it. Badly. Instead, it just burst the cushion at the seams." He said, looking down at it. Oh. Oops. Did I actually do that?  
"Spine, we better clean this lot up before anyone sees." He nods in agreement before rushing off to get a bin liner for the feathery mess on the floor while I stand there trying to work out what to do with the door. Then I notice something. I only just spot it sticking out through the splinters. I pull at it. A small piece of paper comes free. I open it.

 

"2nd Cabinet -->, 3rd drawer ^, re conceal and tell only one."

What? Wait, that looks like Peter's handwriting... Peter Walter.. The FIRST! So it's telling me where some in is in a room, but which room? Not in here, the library had no significance to him. His office? Nah, no cabinets in there. The engineering lab! Of course, that's where he spent most of his time, creating inventions.

I run past Spine as he walks in with a bin bag and a brush, nearly knocking the tall slender automaton over. I turn into the corridor leading to the labs and his office when I crash into a mass of white fluff.   
"MARSHMALLOW!"  
A low meow resonates back. I look through the giant cat's legs to see mismatched green and blue optics staring back. Great.  
"Rabbit, what are you doing with Marshmallow? You know he's not allowed anywhere near the labs."  
"I d-d-didn't bring him here. He's the o-o-one who f-f-f... followed me here. I was giving Gabby a tour, and he just tagged along."  
"Gabby?"  
"Yea, Gabby. She hasn't told me what she does for a living but she said she's good with food." He hold up Marshmallow's electronic feeder. Well that explains it.  
"Rabbit, put it back in Marshmallow's kitchen."

I watch as the giant cat's tail disappears around the corner, following a screaming Rabbit "Save me, I'm b-b-being chased by a super giant M-M-Marshmallow!". Finally. I rush over to the lab doors. Lab One? Lab Two? Lab One? Lab Two? Idiot! Of course bits gonna be lab One, that's the only lab there was when the colonel was around. I try the handle. Shit! It's locked. Wait...   
I vaguely remember Jon complaining about not being able to get into the gat because it was locked and he needed me to... what was it? Oh! I put my hand over the keycard slot. After 37 beeps, the door opens. Hah, Peter, you are an absolute genius. Body temperature sensor. To keep the robots out, yet allow humans in. Clever.

I finally find the second cabinet from the left, and the third drawer up, and the pot of unidentifiable goo that was lurking inside... "What the hell is that?"  I end up saying aloud

I get back to the library and find Spine Studying the Unbreakable door, no doubt trying to to work out how to fix it. He looks up to find me and the mysterious pot of God knows what.   
'Tell only one' the note said. I guess Spine would be the best person to tell. I show him the note.   
"I found it inside the door where it splintered. I think it's some sort of resin to fix it."  
He nods and we stuff the note back whereby found it, and spread the goo around the splinters. Never again will I doubt any Walter, as the door heals itself. Impressive.

After taking the mysterious glue back, I flop on the sofa in the library. The very same sofa my world started on. My golden automatonic world. That's no longer here...  
"Oh Jon" I sigh sadly.

I feel something heavy lying on my lap. I look down to find a golden robot curled up there. He looks up at me. I look down at him. His optics glow brighter than I've ever seen them, his golden curls seem more cute than ever, his art deco design the most beautiful I've very seen. I think I might be in love. In love with a robot. Jeez, people are gonna think I'm mad. Besides, it's not as if he's gonna love me back, is it? But then I notice his arms around my waist, still lying on me on the sofa. Maybe... I pick him up off the sofa, and carry him bridal style, his one arm clinging around my shoulders. He looks at me and we both remember the same thing. When I picked him up this way when we played in the zoo. I can't remember the rest of what happened there, but I remember the grin, beaming from his face, and how I felt to have the robot I love in my arms. And here he is. I take us to his room, where he resumes lying on top of me, using me as a pillow. I would never move from here in a milloin years. He softly calls my name. But he sounds strange... He calls me again. What? Wait, what's happeni... 

I wake up to find myself back on the sofa in the library. I look down to find not a small golden robot, but a large white fluff ball.   
"FUCK!" I shout. Jon was here... but in my dream. I hear my name again. Crap. It's Bunny. She's probably wondering why I just swore...  
"You okay, Michael?"  
"Yeah, I think." Not.  
"I was just wondering if you were okay, you were talking in your sleep. Miss The Jon, eh?"   
Oh my god, what did I say?  
"Why, what did I say?"  
"You just kept repeating his name, and said something about the zoo and brides... you weren't making much sense. Anyways, I came to tell you that breakfast's ready."

And so it goes on, life with out The Jon, eating, sleeping, playing guitar, giving up because it's too painful, repeating it all the next day. Or, for me at least...

(TS's POV) 

I've seen Michael moping around like a sloth for weeks now. I, on the other hand, haven't stopped. It all started when Peter pretty much blew his face off in an experiment gone wrong...

* * *

"SPINE!!" Peter yelled as he was running out of the lab, his face covered by a mask. It was a wooden mask, with a large keyhole carved into the front. (He later told me it was the original template for BeeBop before the better and current design was created)  
"Peter? Um what's with the... uh..."  
"The mask? Experiment just blew up in ma face - literally" he said, indicating to his charred lab coat.  
"Listen, Spine, I need your help to open the vault, it's too heavy for me to shift"  
The vault? Wait the one with...  
"Earth to The Spine?"  
"Uh, yeah, uh, wait, what?  
He cupped my face and shouted in excitement  
"I know how to fix him!! I can fix Hatchworth!!!"

So with that, we opened the vault to find a powered down iron robot, plastered in dust and cobwebs. You have absolutely no idea how much it broke my heart to see my iron brother powered down in such a state, the once eccentric and enthusiastically insane robot now propped up against the cold hard lead wall of the vault so limp and lifeless. His bare metal skin covered in slug slime trails, thick dust encrusted cobwebs, age old and tangled between his limbs, oil leaking from every joint, his optics dull and expressionless, even his moustache had collapsed. It took three thousand wars, hurricanes, degrees and nonstop hours of GG to make a single hair of that moustache fall a millimetre out of place. He looked like some doll, a cast aside toy, he looked, in one horrible word, dead. Hatchworth looked dead, his soul absorbed by those DAMNED vault walls.  
Peter put a hand on my shoulder. "No, he's not" he said reassuringly. As per always, the Walter knew more or less what I was thinking.  
"C'mon, Th'Spine, the quicker he's outta here, the quicker he'll be fixed."  
I nod. Despite my knowing he's not gonna feel a thing, I pick him up as carefully as I can, being sure not to hit him on anything, and carry him away from that dark place that ~hopefully~temporarily~ killed him.

The second he's on the table in the lab, Peter and I get to work on cleaning, repairing and adjusting him, while he's still unconscious, before beginning on fixing the heart of the whole problem - literally.


	7. Spring-like Dreadlocks and Mustachioed Badgers

(TS's POV)

We worked for hours on end. Walter worker upon Walter worker worked on 12 hour shifts to help us. It must have been almost a week Peter and I were down there, with food and drink brought down to Peter and water for my boilers. No wonder he's crashed out on the sofa- he must have only slept a total of five hours the whole time we were down there. I swear, if I have to go anywhere near that lab for a while... that's the longest I've been in there, while conscious without leaving once. Still, it was worth it. More than worth it. Heck, I would go through hell for any of my family, be they metal, flesh, interface or otherwise.   
"Sp-Spine?"  
I look down to see two blue optics blinking back  
"Hatchworth! How to you feel?"  
He paused for a second, internally checking his systems. A frown slowly grew under his bright ginger moustache. Uh oh. That meant something was wrong.  
"Hatchworth? What's wrong?"  
"My... my... my hatch feels strange... Spine? Can you, uh, check it's all okay?"  
Uh oh. A problem with his hatch could mean... well, anything. Cautiously I open the small circular hatch. To be fair, I don't think anyone could have guessed what was indeed lurking in that hatch of his, so I guess my reaction of staring for several seconds then collapsing in hysterics was justified, as there, looking quite comfy yet hurt at my reaction, was the mother of a badger set, her cubs cowering behind her. As far as Hatchworth is concerned, that's not too abnormal, but what makes it so bizarre is that fact that they were munching their way through a mountain of surprise sandwiches, and the fact that each and every  one of them had a small bright ginger moustache of their own.  
"Spine? Everything ok there? What's the matter? What have you found?"  
Still giggling, I carefully fish out the mother and one of her cubs and show them to him.  
"Congratulations, Hatchworth" I laugh. He sits up and puts his arms put to hold them and adore them while I retrieve the rest of the cubs. Then I realised that Rabbit hadn't been down here at all yet.   
"RABBIT!" I yelled from the doorway. A few seconds later I heard the ancient copper robot come clattering along the corridor  
"Yeah?"  
"Hatchworth is awake"  
"HATCH-ATCH-ATCHWORTH!"  
"Hey Rabbit, you'll never guess what we found in my hatch!" He says, holding up the mother and cub I gave him.   
"Naww!! B-b-baby MOUSTACHIO'D BADGERS!!"  
As they were both fussing over them, I quietly slid out of the lab to take a break. My systems desperately needed to power down, and the Hall Of Wires was looking very appealing.

The next couple of years passed, new songs being made, performances performed, a drummer acquired and even an album made! But none of them were really major. Apart from one secret that finally came out.

"Sp-sp-spine!!" An excited voice came from one of the hallways that sounded like I should know who it belonged to but didn't. It was quickly followed by an over excited... Rabbit?  
"Rabbit?" Could it be..?  
"Y-y-yeah Th'Spine! It's me!! Look at me!!"  
Standing before me was a 6"1' copper robot, with certain facial features looking actually quite pretty, wearing a black and red dress, black and red striped leggings, black boots and a headdress with multicoloured spring-like 'dreadlocks' I guess, with rabbit ears on. Standing in front of me was my sister.

***2 Weeks earlier ***

I was sitting out in the gardens of Walter Manor, just taking in how nice everything was, just appreciating it all when I heard a metallic cough from behind me. I turned around to find my elder brother stood looking kinda awkward and slightly nervous.  
"You okay Rabbit?"  
"Yeah, h-h-h-hey um Spine? Can I-I-I talk to-to-to you a second?" It must have been something serious or important to him if he was stuttering that much  
"Sure, what's the matter Rabbit? Come sit here." I patted the seat next to me.  
He sat down and the next half hour consisted of him stuttering and malfunctioning to basically tell me he was transgender. I think I may have surprised him by simply hugging him and telling him it was ok, that it was all going to be ok. I had a feeling something was going on in Rabbit's mind, when I cought a glimpse of him fussing over dresses a few times, and his voice taking on a more feminine tone when he thought no one was looking. We eventually managed to sit Hatchworth down and explain it all to him, but other than that not much else happened. Until now. Now my elder brother was technically my elder sister, with curves and shapes I never thought possible for a robot, and an ancient one at that. In one word, she was simply amazing. She was absolutely stunning, her dress fitted her in all the right places, her rabbit ears looking adorable, and where Peter was going to replace all the oxidised copper, he left some of it as features that looked really pretty. It was just a shame that it was around this time that our One Man Band unrelatedly left. 

Over time I had noticed that he was growing ever increasingly impatient and irritable, although he never let it show. He consulted with me first, given that I was the only one who knew about him and The Jon. Michael was finding it harder and harder to cope without The Jon. I guess Steve unknowingly setting him up on blind dates didn't really help either. He came to me in the library one evening, in a complete state. Tear streaks lined his cheeks, his eyes all red and puffy, his tallish frame stood crippled as if his heart was physically dragging him down, and he held tightly onto a bracelet, the last gift Jon had given him. Just the sight of him made me want to cry, he looked terrible. I went to where he was in the doorway, gently urged him in, shut the door, and simply hugged him, comforted him. Everyone missed Jon, but no one more than him.  
After a few hours and six boxes of tissues, he'd decided that he was gonna go look for Jon. To this day, I think I'm the only one who really knows where he went.


	8. Jackalopes, Songs and Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~A massive thank you to phoebe_measures_xox (wattpad name) for helping me re-write part of this chapter, and to make it even more magical. Full credit to her for some of the ideas for the plot in the last part of Michael Reed's adventure. The original chapter will be published as a chapter in my One Shot book. ~

(TJ's POV)

Omg Biscuit Town is so much better than I could ever imagine!! Everyone is so amazing, so kind, hospitable and they have JACKALOPES!!!! Lots of jackalopes, everywhere, some are tamed, some are wild, but every single one of them yodel together in a fantastical harmony every night as the moon rises.

I have my own grand house, in a beautiful town which I am mayor of, and I'm surrounded by fantastic and generous people. I have my full collection of fluff, glitter and feathers, the sun always shines, but it's never too hot, my mechanics are looked after by the village's leading scientist, and I have an endless supply of Chrystal Pepsi. Everything is perfect. Apart from one thing; a serious lack of Michael Reed.

I've been here for a while, so long I can't even remember what day it is. But not one single day has passed where I haven't thought about him, missed him, wished to see him again, my one man band...

(MPR's POV)

Months passed, and a lot changed. Hatchy was reactivated, we made an album, Matt was our new drummer, and Rabbit transformed. But there was always something missing...

Then one night, I was just having a general clear out, throwing junk out of my room, when I came across a woven leather and thread bracelet that Jon had given me the day before the holiday, his last gift to me...  
Jon...

I could feel a boiling hot tear crawl down my face, quickly followed by another, and another. I sat on the edge of my bed, still surrounded in complete chaos from my attempt at a clear out, and just stared at the bracelet loosely balanced in my hands, thinking of the person who gave it to me, my heart being wrenched apart in agony and longing.

I don't know how long I was sat there for until I finally went to find Spine, my only voice of reason through this whole charade, in the faint hope he might have an idea on what to do.

I wondered around aimlessly, trudging through the manor until I discovered my legs had dragged me to the library, where I found The Spine. He looked up and when he saw me an expression of pity grew on his face, he quickly got up, ushered me in out of the doorway, closed the door, and hugged me, comforted me. He obviously knew why I had been crying. He gently grabbed the wrist that was holding The Jon's bracelet and pulled me over to the sofa he was previously sat on. He then grabbed a box of tissues from god knows where, then sat down beside me,  
"Talk." He said  
"Wh-what?"  
"Talk. About Jon. I know you miss him, more than anyone else here, and it's pointless you sitting there, moping around feeling sorry for yourself without actually doing anything about it. You're missing him, dying to see him, yet you push thoughts of him away, don't quite let them come in. You see them then hide from them."  
What? There are times when these robots amaze me, each in their different ways. The Spine has often astounded me with how human he can be, even to a frightening degree at times. How he has managed to understand my feelings surrounding Jon, and apply that to his tough love, is a complete mystery to me.

We spend the rest of the evening talking, well ish. I'm surprised he understood anything through the blabs I was blurting out in between sobs.  
It came down to one fact- I had to go find Jon. There was no point in me staying here without him, the band was doing well and would survive without me, and I needed to see him.

The next day, I managed to track down Bunny and David, and talked to them. They started to explain that since the tour bus had broken down, their travel budget and capacity had been reduced, when I interrupted them. I explained that I needed to take a small break from the band, to sort out some personal business, but that if at any point they needed me back I would come, although having heard the news about travel capacity, that seemed unlikely, because what that basically meant was that Matt and I weren't going to any concerts anytime soon.

After a few arrangements, I had packed what ever I needed for my voyage to find The Jon, and left. Goodbyes were brief, I guess everyone thought I would be back in a few weeks. I guess to this day Spine is the only one who really know where I went...

****

I finally arrive at my destination, finally in same land my Jon is in. It took me several days by car, and by this time I'm absolutely exhausted, but my priority is finding the reason I'm here in the first place. I find somewhere on the outskirts of town to park my car, I grab some of my bags, and I start walking.

After about half an hour, I come across a small village. It looks like a nice enough place, the sun is slowly making its way towards the horizon, an amazing light surrounded all of the buildings, most of them houses, with a few local shops here and there. There are a few people wandering around, even some automatons, but no one's in any real hurry, giving a serene feel to the whole place. I wander around for god knows how long, just sinking in the scenery. Everyone seems nice enough, and when it starts to get dark I find small B&B to stay in for the night. 

I continue my search for several days, whilst exploring the town. After about three days, it seems I've searched the entire town, from one end to the other. I find myself walking down an empty road on the outskirts of the town, leading west and to God knows where. There don't seem to be many people living here, they're all in the centre of the village. As the afternoon sun begins to stain the blue sky with yellow and orange hues, I sit down on what appears to be a stone plynth of sorts just outside a huge and grand building. I lean back against the wall of the building, regaining my strength from walking in the midday heat. A few minutes seem to go by when a sound resonates through the window just above my head. Some sort of music seems to be coming from the inside. Someone seems to be playing a guitar. Whoever it is, they're good... good singer too. The tune seems familiar... probably just something I heard on the radio a few times. I find myself quietly humming to it. 

Then, all of a sudden, my brain finally clicks. I haven't heard that song on the radio... it was a song I had helped write, but had never been recorded. Only we knew about it. We... We... "We" is me... And...  
Without taking notice of my actions, I stand, and find that the door to the building is open. I walk in, and drift ever closer to the room where the music is coming from, until I find myself stood in the doorway. There, in front of me, is a small golden automaton with his back to me, oblivious to my presence, still playing the song the the and I wrote, together, but never got a chance to show it to anyone.

I slowly and quietly walked in, careful not to make a noise. Even when I got to only a few inches away from him, he still didn't stir, clearly lost in thought and the song. Subconsciously, I join in with the last verse, our two voices in a perfect harmony. Simultaneously, I wrap my arms around his waist from behind and gently pull him towards me so his body is lightly pressed against mine, his shoulders falling gently against my chest, our bodies fitting together in the most perfect way ever, our voices as one, all in one swift, smooth movement.  
"Michael...?" He whispered under his breath in confusion.

He turned around in my arms to face me. His eyes locked with mine for a split second that felt like forever, before I felt the familiar grip of his small metal hand on the back of my neck, pulling me down toward him. I knew this action all too well.... In the same movement, I extended my leg out behind me to push the door closed, giving us complete privacy. 

(TJ's POV)  
As I was sat in my office one afternoon, my thoughts begin to drift to Michael. My guitar sat in the corner of the room caught my gaze. Suddenly a song wormed it's way into my neural wiring. A song that Michael and I had written a while ago. We never got a chance to record it or even show it to anyone. With ought realizing, I picked up the guitar and began to play. The words just flowed from my mouth, and all I could think about what him, and how much I wished he was here with me. Then, on the last verse, I heard a second voice join in. And the was only one voice that knew the lyrics...  
At that moment, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to the taller figure behind me, in a smooth, swift movement. My shoulders touching a strong chest? Our bodies fitting together perfectly?  
A perfect harmony for lyrics only known by two?  
Wait...  
"Michael...?" I whisper in confusion. 

I turn around in his grip to face him... oh my fluffy biscuits, it's him. My Michael Reed!! My actions are automatic, happen without me thinking as I reach my hand around the back of his neck, pulling his tall frame down to me. He responded by closing the door behind him with his foot, all the while not loosening his grip on me, keeping eye contact. I pull him closer, closer to me, until his mouth connects with mine, our lips moving in sync. He gently presses forwards, deepening the kiss.

Oh how I have longed for this moment, for too long. To finally see my one man band again, to finally feel his warm embrace, to finally feel his warm lips against mine. He breaks the kiss to breathe for a moment. He pushes me backwards with a forceful kiss, until I reach the desk behind me. He breaks it again to lift me so I'm sat on the desk, and stands between my legs in the hottest way ever. I drag him closer to me and continue to kiss him, making up for all the time we were apart.


	9. The End! Author's Note

So, here we have the end! I really hope you enjoyed my story! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I sure hope it's paid off. Enjoy the rest of your day! :)


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